Last year at about this time he would have been promoting Giftcards for the Holidays, or offering special “Holiday Entrees” to hungry patrons of the restaurant. Waiting tables at Hacienda is a far cry from what he is doing now. It was in 2005 that a position at the University of Denver happened upon him.

“I needed a job, and they were offering,” said Ryan Johnston, the Energy Conservation Officer at DU.

Johnston works for the energy consulting company, Integrated Energy Solutions of Fort Collins, CO, that recently partnered with DU as part of an Energy Management Program. Facilities Management has always been conscious of energy use; both because of the rising cost of energy resources and because of the overall fiscal drain electricity is on the university each year. Johnston’s contract with DU is for three years. In the first two years that he has worked with DU, he has saved the university $645,000. This is the equivalent of nearly 23 student tuitions. Not bad for his first project.

Johnston had hardly planned on becoming an energy consultant when he was an economics major at the University of Colorado, Denver. Nor did he initially take interest in conserving energy himself.

“My family always made fun of me because I would never remember to turn off the lights,” said Johnston, “I knew nothing of energy saving.”

Despite having no previous experience in recycling, the economics background that Johnston brought served him well in the area of justifying the use of, at times, more expensive building materials that would ultimately save the university thousands of dollars in energy bills.

“Sometimes the more money that you put into it, the less expensive it will be in the long run,” said Johnston.

Where DU is putting up some extra dollars is in replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. The fluorescent light bulbs, known for their twisty glass bulb, are more energy efficient and last much longer than traditional bulbs. Johnston says that as these bulbs are becoming more popular, their price is also going down as well. At some point, Johnston believes that there will be no market for the traditional bulbs at all.

Last year, Johnston and the DU Environmental Team launched the “DUET in the Dark” campaign, which was meant to educate students on the importance of turning off lights.

“I tell people to think about what they would do if they were paying the bill,” said Johnston.

What Johnston is saying is that if you were paying up to thirteen cents per kilowatt hour, with four 100 watt bulbs on for hours on end, you would think twice about flicking the switch.

Johnston sees his responsibility at DU as educating students and faculty about energy conservation and ultimately change their culture.

“Some students are very active, and some are not. It was just not the way they grew up,” said Johnston.

Looking out into a parking lot at DU, one can see a vast array of extravagant SUVs. Looking across the campus at twilight, one can also see the lights in the windows of the residence halls and nearby apartments. Energy conservation is not something that is conscious in a lot of students’ minds.

“There is nothing wrong with that,” said Johnston, “It just makes sense for us to start thinking about before we are forced to.”

What Johnston is referring to is the economically obvious state of electricity in Europe, where price per kilowatt hour has risen exponentially.

Johnston has been pleased with the response that he has gotten from students and faculty that have taken a genuine interest in energy conservation. Johnston has worked with several student organizations including; Sustainable DU, Net Impact and the GSIS program Sustainable International Development Institute.

Another new endeavor for Johnston is graduate school. Johnston has recently enrolled in the International Securities department of GSIS.

“It just makes sense. My full time job and my full time school are in the same place,”

As far as the Energy Conservation Officer position, when his three years are up, he will be on to other things. But his knowledge of energy efficiency is something that will never leave him.

“We are not using nearly enough natural light in this room,” said Johnston, as he proceeded to list off the elements of the light fixtures in the room were wrong.